Paul Blair

Today, Americans for Tax Reform released a compilation of the top remaining Democratic candidates for president who have come out recently against vaping. Some have gone so far as to call for complete and total bans.

Joe Biden:*"I choose science over fiction. And so if the science has demonstrated is doing great damage then I don't care what it does to a small business person who's selling this stuff. If it is damaging lungs, if it's causing the kind of damage that is said and that studies not been fully done yet. If it turns out that it is that I would eliminate it."

Bernie Sanders: *"I think we shut down the industry. If they are causing addition, and if, and the evidence is that people are getting sick as a result. They're inhaling a lot of bad stuff, right?"

In an exchange with the New York Times editorial board in December, Senator Sanders made similar comments.

Editorial board member: "Do you believe that flavored e-cigarettes should be banned? How would you tackle the vaping-related health crisis?

Bernie Sanders:*"Yeah I do. I think that they already seem to be causing serious health problems."

Pete Buttigieg:*"This means taking action on these flavored e-cigarette products that are clearly targeted towards children and making sure that we have a much higher bar for them demonstrating that they're not causing harm because we're seeing all these horrifying cases of people coming to harm because they use this product."

Elizabeth Warren goes so far as to agree that she has some of the "harshest proposals" in regards to vaping, as she signaled during this exchange at a town hall:

Voter: “Of all the 2020 candidates running for the Democratic nomination, you have come out with some of the harshest proposals to regulate the vapor industry.”

Compared to most 2020 Democrats, Senator Elizabeth Warren has weighed in numerous times on the question on vaping. In November, Warren submitted questions to then-nominee for the FDA Stephen Hahn to get to the bottom of "the Trump administration’s reversal on its plan to remove certain flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pods from the market and asking what steps the FDA will take to combat youth e-cigarette use and the spate of vaping-related illnesses plaguing the nation."

The specific question submitted by Warren on November 20, 2019 to now-Commissioner Hahn for the record read as follows:

"In September 2019, the Administration announced that it would 'outline a plan…for removing flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pods from the market,' including mint and menthol. Earlier this month, however, the Administration reversed course. Reportedly facing 'pressure from his political advisers and lobbyists,' the President 'has resisted moving forward with any action on vaping.' This failure to act is unacceptable. If confirmed, will you push to implement the robust ban on e-cigarette flavors announced in September?"

A compilation of some of these comments can be watched here:

Amy Klobuchar: “The president’s decision not to move forward on action to ban flavored e-cigarettes is yet another example of how his Administration prioritizes corporate interests over people.”

Andrew Yang: When asked about an expected Trump administration ban on flavored vaping products, he responded: "So, I agree that we're headed in the right direction if we're taking steps. It is a bit overdue."

Tom Steyer was the largest individual donor to California's Proposition 56, representing over one-third of all money spent in support of a statewide measure to impose a massive new wholesale tax on e-cigarettes and the nicotine vapor industry in California. Not only did Steyer spend $11.3 million of his own money as the co-chair of the Prop. 56 campaign, but he appeared in television ads asking voters to implement the statewide 68% vaping tax as well. In fact, he championed his involvement in Prop. 56 in his first presidential campaign ad of the 2020 season and has a December ad dedicated to his involvement in the 2016 campaign, where he oddly neglects to mention the new tax on vaping created with his ballot initiative.

Mike Bloomberg: has invested $160 million in a national campaign to ban all flavored nicotine vapor products.

*These comments were made after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that illicit THC and marijuana products were the culprit behind "damage" being done to consumers.

In Iowa this week, Democrat Pete Buttigieg signaled that if elected, he would place tighter regulations on the nicotine vapor industry, stating that “the burden has to be” on the vapor industry to prove that e-cigarettes and nicotine vapor products are safe, during a town hall in Winterset, Iowa on Monday. He went on to mischaracterize the value and intended purpose of products that are specifically flavored in nature and to blame nicotine products for recent vaping-related illnesses.

Here’s the key exchange:

Voter: “So, in 2019, more than 27% of high school students used an e-cigarette. How would you address this epidemic as it pertains to youth and young people?”

Buttigieg: “So, what we are seeing is e-cigarettes being marketed and sold to young people despite companies telling us otherwise. The way this was marketed and sold to the country is that it can be used for harm reduction. It can get people off smoking combustion cigarettes and into something that might be less dangerous than cigarettes. But that doesn't make them safe in their own right, and that doesn't answer why you would target them for people who aren't smokers at all. And I believe the burden has to be on these companies to demonstrate that they are not causing harm rather than on regulators to demonstrate that they are.

This means taking action on these flavored e-cigarette products that are clearly targeted towards children and making sure that we have a much higher bar for them demonstrating that they're not causing harm because we're seeing all these horrifying cases of people coming to harm because they use this product.

And it is why, whether its specific to e-cigarettes or whether its more generally when it comes to the way that we regulate food and drug and other products in this country that we have regulators who actually believe in protecting consumers rather than being beholden to those whose profits are at stake."

Not only does Buttigieg signal that he would impose rules more onerous than those recently implemented by the Trump administration, but he refused to acknowledge the harm reduction potential of a vast majority of vapor products that adults use to quit smoking which are in fact flavored.

Without evidence or context he asserted that e-cigarettes have caused harm to consumers. In fact, Mayor Pete seemed to purposely confuse the harm being inflicted on consumers by black market and illicit THC marijuana products, which have been identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as the culprit behind the recent vaping illnesses. Those THC products are generally already illegal in all instances, as opposed to legal nicotine vaping products available in convenience stores, vape shops, and other retail outlets.

Buttigieg’s comments come less than a week after Elizabeth Warren signaled that she would crack down on legal nicotine vaping if elected and on the heels of Joe Biden also suggesting that he would “eliminate” vaping if elected.

“I don't care what it does to a small business person who's selling this stuff. If it is damaging lungs, if it's causing the kind of damage that is said and that studies not been fully done yet. If it turns out that it is that I would eliminate it,” Biden said.

Elizabeth Warren, responding to a voter question about vaping during a town hall on Sunday in Marshalltown, Iowa, agreed that she is perhaps the harshest candidate when it comes to the existence of the vapor industry, and signaled that she would crack down on legal nicotine vaping if elected.

Here’s the key exchange:

Voter: “Of all the 2020 candidates running for the Democratic nomination, you have come out with some of the harshest proposals to regulate the vapor industry.”

Warren: [Nodding] “Mhm.”

Voter: “If your proposals were enacted, it would shut down thousands of small businesses and eliminate over 95% of the products on the market today. What message do you have for adults like myself who rely on these products to live a smoke free life and are concerned that a vote for you would be a vote that would send me back to smoking and eventually my death?”

Warren: “Okay. So let me say the same thing I said earlier when we're talking about climate. I believe in science. I believe that the decisions we should be making about our health should not be decisions that are influenced by an industry. They should not be decisions, decisions that are influenced by lobbyists. I just want to do what's right here. And I want to protect our Food and Drug Administration to be able to do that. I read the argument and seen some of the data that suggests there are uses for vaping that may be safe and healthy. I, I haven't read all of the data on it. But like I said, I believe in science, I have also seen the risks that vaping poses to young people and to non smokers who are pulled in and what that means for their lives. So I just I want a rule that is based in science. I want a rule that is based in the best interests of the health of the people of the United States of America.”

It's not clear what "rule" Senator Warren is referencing, given the fact that the "Deeming Rule" which retroactively began to regulate the vaping industry was finalized in 2016 and subsequent decisions by the FDA have been issued via industry guidance that further limits the availability of these products, even for adults. Refusing to acknowledge the settled conclusion that vaping is a net benefit to adult smokers and posturing to suggest that further rules may be necessary indicate her lack of serious consideration of the subject. In fact, she recently joined other Senate Democrats in urging the Trump administration to ban all flavored nicotine vaoir products, product that are overwhelmingly used by millions of adults to transition away from cigarettes. Sen. Warren opposes anything that does not look like full scale prohibition.

Last week Joe Biden suggested that he would “eliminate” vaping if elected.

“I don't care what it does to a small business person who's selling this stuff. If it is damaging lungs, if it's causing the kind of damage that is said and that studies not been fully done yet. If it turns out that it is that I would eliminate it,” Biden said.

Biden: "I don't care what it does to a small business person who's selling this stuff."

For the second time in two days, leading Democrat Presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden suggested that he would ban nearly every life-saving nicotine vaping product on the market. Vaping is the most successful quit smoking tool ever devised, yet Joe Biden wants to “eliminate” or “halt” these life-saving products.

Here’s the key exchange during a campaign speech in Grinnell, Iowa on Sunday:

Voter at town hall: “My question is concerning the vapor industry. Over the past several months, the Trump administration thought over proposed regulations and then recently just came out with a much more narrow plan to target just the products that are the most popular among our youth, and it would largely leave small businesses unaffected. My question to you is, have you met with any of the small business owners in that space to see how these regulations impact them or how they think that we should continue forward in order to prevent youth access to these products.”

Biden: “I have not met with any of the particular individual small business people selling the vaping equipment and the kinds of material that you can include in and put in the pipe. But I tell you what, one of the things that you know, everybody knows who Donald Trump is, we gotta let him know who we are, and he's telling who I am. And I choose science over fiction. And so if the science has demonstrated is doing great damage then I don't care what it does to a small business person who's selling this stuff. If it is damaging lungs, if it's causing the kind of damage that is said and that studies not been fully done yet. If it turns out that it is that I would eliminate it. I would make it I would go after it in a hard way. I would make it broader, not just for he is.”

Joe Biden also said that he would halt the sale of vaping products in response to a voter question over the weekend, according to Bloomberg News.

This position stands in stark contrast to President Donald Trump's more nuanced position on the subject. Trump has expressed support for vaping as an alternative to smoking for adults and acknowledged that it is a huge advantage for a smoker who can make the switch.

Today, the FDA released final guidance regarding the sale and availability of nicotine vapor products on the market across the United States. Beginning soon, the agency will force the removal of "closed system" nicotine vapor products that contain disposable "pods" and "cartridges" in over 150,000 retail locations. Exempt from immediate prohibition are products largely sold by thousands of vape shops, where adults can purchase a variety of flavored products and devices to customize their vaping experience.

ATR's Director of Strategic Initiatives, Paul Blair, had this to say of the new FDA guidance on vaping:

"This fight should have never been necessary. The overreaction by nanny-state activists and the misrepresentation of the truth about the cause of teen vaping from some within the administration in September led the President into months of wasted time on an issue best addressed through sensible regulation and legislation on Capitol Hill. More than 10,000 small mom and pop businesses had to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas without any sort of clue about whether they'd have to let their employees go during the Holidays.

Fortunately, these small businesses have been spared, for now. The President heard many vapers' concerns and implemented a compromise position after an unprecedented amount of consideration was given to both anti-vaping activists and sensible small business advocates.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that removing so many disposable and closed system vapor products from the market is that the very places where these reduced risk products were once available is where smokers can still buy any cigarette that they want. Smokers deserve choices, should they choose to quit. America's 34 million smokers will have fewer options, which may lead to fewer ever trying to quit with products that are at least 95% less harmful.

President Trump does deserve great praise for acknowledging the importance and health advantage of a smoker transitioning to an e-cigarette, an acknowledgement that never came from President Obama, who once smoked cigarettes. I hope that the current President understands that the pending May deadlines for submitting applications for every other business not impacted by this decision still present a real threat of prohibition given how complex and expensive the application process is. The FDA must immediately issue clarifying guidance on how small firms that sell flavored vapor products are supposed to make it through a regulatory process that has only ever worked for actual tobacco products.

Vapor products are the most successful quit-smoking tool to have ever existed. It would be a shame if they largely ceased to exist at the end of the historically successful Trump administration because some of his trusted advisors were taking direction from the likes of Mike Bloomberg."

"In a Nov. 22-24 survey of 1,988 voters, roughly 1 in 10 Trump 2016 voters said a 2020 presidential candidate backing a ban on flavored e-cigarettes would be less likely to win their vote, with 8 percent saying they would be 'much less likely' to vote in favor of that candidate. The sample of 677 Trump voters has a margin of error of 4 percentage points."

Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist said in response to the poll findings:

"This poll showing the power of the vaping issue in driving how millions of Americans will vote confirms that people vote on issues of immediate and personal impact. The anti-vaping prohibitionists are threatening the lives of those Americans who use vaping as their way to stop smoking. They won’t go back without a fight.

"Woe to the politician who stands between the 10 million vapers and their choice for life and health. Americans want to be left alone to run their own lives and to protect their own health. Vapers have made a decision to stop smoking and choose the healthier path of vaping. Woe to the politician who stands between any American and their desire to lead a healthier, longer life."

Paul Blair, director of strategic initiatives at Americans for Tax Reform issued the following statement:

"Today's Morning Consult poll further validates what we have long said about the importance of vaper voters as a political constituency in 2020. The fact that 11 percent of Trump voters will be less likely to vote for the president next year if he implements a ban on most vapor products demonstrates that this issue could easily and singlehandedly cost him the election in states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania."

Blair continued:

"This poll follows an October poll conducted by Trump campaign pollster John McLaughlin that showed 83% of adult vapor product consumers in the 17 battleground states in 2020 are likely to decide their vote based solely on a candidate’s position on nicotine vapor products and issues. That poll also showed that 74% of adult vapers would be less likely to vote for the President if he implemented a vape ban. McLaughlin concluded, 'The vapor consumers in Trump’s base would likely turn on him over this single issue.' Today's Morning Consult poll shows that an even broader constituency than vapers themselves may turn on the President over this issue.

Vaping is a political issue for more than 13 million adults because so many of them have successfully used these reduced risk alternatives to cigarettes to quit smoking. When you jeopardize people's livelihoods by threatening kill 150,000 jobs and put at risk the improved health of millions of adults by threatening to take away their access to e-cigarettes, you will lose votes. Personal health is a political issue and prohibition is a losing proposition."

The following groups and individuals oppose a ban on flavored vaping products for adults:

Currently, services like Veratad and Age Checker verify a consumer's age online with third party databases to ensure that they are consistent with the information the government has on age to purchase laws. Some of these services further require you to upload a photo ID already, making a new federally mandated point of delivery age verification both unnecessary and additionally costly. This legislation will result in adult consumers being forced to pay several dollars more each time they have e-cigarettes shipped to their homes, a needless government action that will result in fewer smokers transitioning to e-cigarettes, which are 95% less harmful than cigarettes.

Teens who are not of the legal age to vape (those under the age of 18-21, depending on the state) are currently prohibited from purchasing nicotine vapor products online, a policy aggressively enforced by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA both monitors and enforces against online businesses that do not check age at the time of purchase or when you access the sales portion of a website that sells e-cigarettes. There is not an online loophole that allows underage consumers to purchase vapor products online.

FDA data conclusively points to social sources like friends or family being the way that teens get access to e-cigarettes, not online sales. This bill does not address the stated concerns of proponents of the legislation.

The Senate should reject this legislation because it will raise costs on adult consumers and may result in fewer people choosing to use reduced risk alternatives to cigarettes.

According to a Friday afternoon Axios scoop, "The Trump administration plans to finalize a ban on almost all flavored vaping products, with exemptions only for tobacco and menthol flavors, according to sources familiar with the plan. An announcement is expected next week."

But a poll conducted last week by Trump's campaign pollster John McLaughlin follows an ATR analysis of the number of adult vapers in battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Florida. That analysis, based on FDA data of adult use of e-cigarettes, showed that in 12 swing states, there are more than 4.1 million adult vapers, far more than the number needed to tip the election one way or the other.

The McLaughlin firm was a principal polling firm for Donald Trump in 2016 and remains a trusted ally for the administration. The poll was commissioned by the Vapor Technology Association. According to the pollsters:

Four in five (83%) vapor consumers are likely to decide their vote based solely on a candidate’s position on nicotine vapor products and issues. Half (50%) are “very” likely to be single issue voters.

This is almost identical to the polling conducted in part by Americans for Tax Reform in October of 2016, which can be found here.

McLaughlin further concluded:

Nearly all (96%) of these vapor consumers are likely to vote in the 2020 general elections. Four in five (85%) are “definitely” voting. Among the 4% who are less likely to vote, the majority (59%) would be likely to come out to vote if lawmakers banned the sale and use nicotine vapor products.

These vapor consumers favor the Republican candidate on the generic ballot (46% to 24%), but 30% are undecided and up for grabs in the battleground states.

Supporting a ban on flavors in all nicotine vapor products is a political liability. Nearly all (96%) vapor consumers are LESS likely to vote for a candidate who supports a flavor ban. The intensity (92% much less likely) shows the passion they share on this issue.

McLaughlin also concluded that there “is political upside for candidates who oppose a ban on flavors in all nicotine vapor products. Virtually nine in ten (88%) vapor consumers are MORE likely to vote for a candidate who opposes a flavor ban. Eight in ten (79%) are ‘much’ MORE likely to support such a candidate.”

On the flip side, if HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Acting FDA Commissioner successfully convince the White House to implement a flavor ban, McLaughlin concluded that “vapor consumers in Trump’s base would likely turn on him over this single issue.”

Although vapor consumers currently approve of the job Donald Trump is currently doing as President (51-44), 74% said that they would be less likely to vote for him, with 65% saying they would be “much less” likely to vote for Trump. Among key base and supporters, it’s significant:

Approve Trump: 65% less likely;

Republicans: 65% less likely;

Conservatives: 62% less likely;

Independent Men: 83% less likely;

Independent Women: 79% less likely.

Prior to e-cigarettes, 84% of respondents smoked a pack of cigarettes a day or more, with 94% reporting no longer smoking cigarettes due to nicotine vapor products. More than half smoked for at least 20 years before quitting.

“This new poll further confirms what Americans for Tax Reform has long argued, that millions of adults who use flavored nicotine e-cigarettes to quit smoking will vote on that issue and that issue alone. Banning flavors would be a significant political liability in every single one of the states that Donald Trump needs to win next year, especially in states like Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin which have at least two million adult vapers alone,” said Paul Blair of Americans for Tax Reform.

“As McLaughlin suggests, 74% of vapers in these states voting against the President because of this issue would cost him big. McLaughlin is a trusted pollster for the President so it is our hope that this puts a stop to the FDA and HHS's misguided plans to hand Democrats a win in 2020 by banning life-saving flavored e-cigarettes. Prohibition is not a winning proposition. Instead of demonizing people who are improving their own health by transitioning to products that are 95% less harmful, the federal government should focus its attention on the true cause of recent illnesses and death: black market THC and marijuana,” said Blair.

The FDA's Michael Bloomberg-style push for a flavored e-cigarette ban disregards the importance of flavors in transitioning adult smokers away from cigarettes onto less harmful alternatives. In an analysis published in the journal Harm Reduction last year, the evidence suggests that flavored products are the overwhelming preference for adults, with tobacco and menthol ranking outside of the top five consumer preferences.

Banning flavored e-cigarettes for adults would force adult vapers to go back to smoking or to seek out products on the dangerous black market.

The poll of adult vapor voters was commissioned by the Vapor Technology Association and conducted between October 17 and 22 in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The full crosstabs can be found here.

The McLaughlin firm was a principle polling firm for Donald Trump in 2016 and remains a trusted ally for the administration. The poll was commissioned by the Vapor Technology Association. According to the pollsters:

Four in five (83%) vapor consumers are likely to decide their vote based solely on a candidate’s position on nicotine vapor products and issues. Half (50%) are “very” likely to be single issue voters.

This is almost identical to the polling conducted in part by Americans for Tax Reform in October of 2016, which can be found here.

McLaughlin further concluded:

Nearly all (96%) of these vapor consumers are likely to vote in the 2020 general elections. Four in five (85%) are “definitely” voting. Among the 4% who are less likely to vote, the majority (59%) would be likely to come out to vote if lawmakers banned the sale and use nicotine vapor products.

These vapor consumers favor the Republican candidate on the generic ballot (46% to 24%), but 30% are undecided and up for grabs in the battleground states.

Supporting a ban on flavors in all nicotine vapor products is a political liability. Nearly all (96%) vapor consumers are LESS likely to vote for a candidate who supports a flavor ban. The intensity (92% much less likely) shows the passion they share on this issue.

McLaughlin also concluded that there “is political upside for candidates who oppose a ban on flavors in all nicotine vapor products. Virtually nine in ten (88%) vapor consumers are MORE likely to vote for a candidate who opposes a flavor ban. Eight in ten (79%) are ‘much’ MORE likely to support such a candidate.”

On the flip side, if HHS Secretary Alex Azar and Acting FDA Commissioner successfully convince the White House to implement a flavor ban, McLaughlin concluded that “vapor consumers in Trump’s base would likely turn on him over this single issue.”

Although vapor consumers currently approve of the job Donald Trump is currently doing as President (51-44), 74% said that they would be less likely to vote for him, with 65% saying they would be “much less” likely to vote for Trump. Among key base and supporters, it’s significant:

Approve Trump: 65% less likely;

Republicans: 65% less likely;

Conservatives: 62% less likely;

Independent Men: 83% less likely;

Independent Women: 79% less likely.

Prior to e-cigarettes, 84% of respondents smoked a pack of cigarettes a day or more, with 94% reporting no longer smoking cigarettes due to nicotine vapor products. More than half smoked for at least 20 years before quitting.

“This new poll further confirms what Americans for Tax Reform has long argued, that millions of adults who use flavored nicotine e-cigarettes to quit smoking will vote on that issue and that issue alone. Banning flavors would be a significant political liability in every single one of the states that Donald Trump needs to win next year, especially in states like Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin which have at least two million adult vapers alone,” said Paul Blair of Americans for Tax Reform.

“As McLaughlin suggests, 74% of vapers in these states voting against the President because of this issue would cost him big. McLaughlin is a trusted pollster for the President so it is our hope that this puts a stop to the FDA and HHS's misguided plans to hand Democrats a win in 2020 by banning life-saving flavored e-cigarettes. Prohibition is not a winning proposition. Instead of demonizing people who are improving their own health by transitioning to products that are 95% less harmful, the federal government should focus its attention on the true cause of recent illnesses and death: black market THC and marijuana,” said Blair.

The poll of adult vapor voters was commissioned by the Vapor Technology Association and conducted between October 17 and 22 in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. The full crosstabs can be found here.

Today, Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist and a coalition of center-right organizations from across the country called on President Donald Trump to preserve access to electronic cigarettes and vapor products that millions of American adults are using to quit smoking or reduce their dependence on tobacco products in the United States. In recent weeks, there have been calls to ban flavored vapor products, including a push by New York billionaire activist Mike Bloomberg, who has invested more than $160 million to push a ban. In the midst of historic-low smoking rates among both teenagers and adults, a number of organizations are urging the President to implement reasonable regulations instead of outright prohibition.

Essential to the success of e-cigarettes as a tool for reducing adult use of cigarettes is the availability of flavors. Instead of confusing the issue of illness and deaths associated with illicit marijuana use and the popularity of e-cigarettes as a quit-smoking tool, conservative organizations nationally are urging President Trump to protect more than 10,000 small businesses that sell e-cigarettes to adults and implement sensible regulations instead.

We urge you to preserve access to life-saving alternatives to cigarettes for the millions of adults who rely on electronic cigarettes and vapor products to quit smoking in the United States. Of particular importance is the preservation of flavored products, which are not only the preferred product for adult smokers but essential to the success of vaping as an alternative to cigarette use long-term.

Your administration has rightly derided “regulatory dark matter,” or agency-generated guidance because it imposes “back door” regulations without going through a formal rule-making process. The flavored vapor product guidance under consideration by the FDA is among the most striking and nontransparent violations of your commitment to limit dark regulations since you took office. Unchallenged, the FDA will destroy thousands of small businesses without Congressional oversight and without sufficient input from the public.

Over 10,000 small mom-and-pop vape shops comprise an overwhelming percentage of this industry and represent the fastest-growing retail segment of the past ten years, a recent Labor Department analysis shows. A Wells Fargo analysis estimates that the commercial e-cigarette and vapor product industry is expected to be a $10 billion industry by next year, a growth trajectory that has significantly reduced combustible cigarette sales across the country.

A vast majority of these businesses employ fewer than ten employees, making the shops that sell e-cigarettes to adults trying to quit smoking increasingly reliant on sensible federal regulations that don’t impose millions of dollars in costs through a FDA regulatory process designed purposefully by Congressional Democrats and the world’s largest tobacco companies to end in failure.

Billionaires like former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg have long attempted to curtail individual rights and consumer freedom in the United States. He has already committed nearly $1 billion to anti-tobacco efforts globally, in seeking to influence organizations like the World Health Organization and fund research that demonizes adult smokers and adult vapers. On September 10, he announced a $160 million push to ban flavored e-cigarettes in America. Given your administration’s historic accomplishments and deregulatory agenda, it would be a mistake to allow HHS and the FDA to take marching orders from activists like Mike Bloomberg.

Adults like flavors. That’s precisely why everything from vodka to ice cream comes in a variety of flavors. When it comes to vaping, this holds true. Prior to the rise of JUU Lin 2018, more than 80% of adult vapers used fruit, dessert, and sweet flavors to stay away from cigarettes. Tobacco and menthol e-cigarette flavors ranked as the fifth and sixth most popular flavor before one company dominated the traditional convenience store market.

Eliminating all but one or two of these options for adults would destroy thousands of small businesses, force many adult vapers to return to smoking, and force some to seek out products on the black market.

Both the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now acknowledge that the recent deaths and respiratory and lung illnesses associated with vaping have largely been caused by the illicit marijuana and THC market. Instead of targeting legal nicotine products that have existed for a decade, the administration’s focus should be on cracking down on California drug dealers that are poisoning consumers with dangerous, unregulated, and counterfeit products sourced from places like China and Mexico.

Your administration can keep e-cigarettes out of the hands of teenagers without jeopardizing the great accomplishments that have been made in public health through the availability of vapor products for adults. We urge you to immediately halt the FDA’s planned actions that will limit choices for millions of American adults who rely on flavored vaping products to quit smoking. More than 100,000 jobs and the lives of 34 million adult smokers are on the line.

Sincerely,

Grover Norquist

President, Americans for Tax Reform

Phil Kerpen

President, American Commitment

Daniel Schneider

Executive Director, American Conservative Union

Steve Posiask

President, American Consumer Institute

Ryan Ellis

President, Center for a Free Economy

Thomas Schatz

President, Citizens Against Government Waste

Jeff Stier

Senior Fellow, Consumer Choice Center

Michelle Minton

Senior Fellow, Competitive Enterprise Institute

Katie McAuliffe

Executive Director, Digital Liberty

Jason Pye

Vice President of Legislative Affairs, FreedomWorks

Julie Gunlock

Director of Center for Progress and Innovation, Independent Women’s Forum